Pause Life for a Moment-Preppy Girl in Pink

Preppy Girl in Pink is such a fun blog to visit! Kristen loves being a mom and you can read that in her wonderful posts about her family. I so enjoy visiting to see what her family has been up to and Kristen’s wonderful insights on motherhood.

Kristen is also an amazing commenter. I love getting to read what she has thought about one of my posts. We are blessed with the opportunity today to get to comment on one of her posts today on Pause Life for a Moment.

I have to tell all of you that I was honored when JDaniel4’s Mom invited me to participate in “Pause Life for a Moment”. I wish I would’ve known about blogs when my girls were younger because a blog like this one, it makes it easy to pause life for a moment with your children. There are so many fun ideas on this blog that I always try to make them a bit older for my own girls or I make note for when I have younger kids over to our home.

My New Year’s resolution was to actually slow down, show patience and focus on my family more. So many times we let life get in the way of fully living. I looked up one day and my girls were older than I knew and needing me less. My heart reminded me that our time together doesn’t have to be about need, it can also be about want.

I started thinking about a family project. I knew that if we could come up with something that we all loved doing that we would reap the benefits for years to come and that it would always give us reason to pause life for a moment.

I wanted us to do something big…something that would take a lot of effort for us to make it happen. I wanted something that would bring us together and keep us close…close in our hearts and close in our thoughts. I wanted it to be something that we all didn’t need but would want.

We talked a bit about a few different ideas but the one that came first and the one that kept coming back to us in our discussion was a very large butterfly garden. We will begin to break ground in just a few weeks and we decided on an island that we have in the middle of our driveway that has never truly shown its full potential.

When we talked about what we could do as a special family project, a butterfly garden just made sense. My girls have always loved butterflies because their Great Grandmother (that they called GG) loved them. She had them in every room of her home, wore them on her necklaces and always pointed them out to my girls when we were out and about. When their GG passed away, there was a butterfly that seemed to watch over the burial service from a headstone close by. My girls (and I, truthfully) believe that it was GG’s spirit. Since then, butterflies are a connection that they hold close to the fun memories and love that they shared with their GG.

We plan to not only pause life for a moment when spending time with our girls planning out and planting our new butterfly garden but also when it is completed. We want them to see the beauty that can come from the soil. We want them to smell the fragrance that can come from a budding flower. We want them to hear the music of the butterflies flapping their wings. We want them to pause life for a moment and not only be reminded of their GG, but their life right there in that moment. We want them to give thanks for the time that they are allowed for true reflection and peace as a family.

We want them to learn how to pause life for a moment when they are young so that when they are older it will become a natural thing, not something they have to put on their calendar like a dental appointment. We want them to know that with just a short amount of time in a place that is surrounded not only with beauty but created with love that there is always a safe place to land…just like this garden will be for a butterfly.

About Deirdre

Welcome! My name is Deirdre and I am JDaniel4's Mom. After teaching in Virginia for twenty years, I was a stay at home mom learning and growing beside my son JDaniel the 4th for five years. I recently went back to teaching at a local school here in South Carolina.

We are very excited! We have a great friend in the neighborhood that is amazing with plants and is helping us with our plant selection. We are trying to use all native plants. It should not only be a lot of fun but a beautiful way to pause for a moment.

Thanks again for having me on your blog today! I think this is such an important thing for all of us to focus on. In our world today, with instant and immediate results, it seems we have forgotten how to pause for a moment. It is wonderful that we all have your blog to come to not only for the reminder to pause for a moment but different ideas on how to actually do it.

I can’t think of a better way or place to “pause” life. The first thing I planted when we moved to our current home 3 years ago was a butterfly bush. I just loved watching it to see who would fly over for a visit. Have fun planting your butterfly garden and be sure to share pics when it’s ready!

Girl – I love you. What an awesome idea Just awesome. Here is what I love: You are now a SAHM. You rock! (I can’t believe this… I started this comment at 9am – and got distracted. I was right behind Lisa!

This is such an awesome idea. I would love to someday have a butterfly garden at out home. I would love to see the boys chasing them- and would hope against hope that they would remain gnetle and learn how to appreciate their beauty without harming it. What a fun family you must have

Thank you! My girls have always loved critters they have found outside but the connection made with butterflies has been very special. I know this is going to be a great way for all of us to spend time together and focus on the important things in life.

Kristen – so beautiful. And what a great idea. My oldest is on Spring Break next week and we are going to the conservatory here and their butterfly exhibit – she loves it and I love to see her joy when we visit.

We actually got the idea after I went through the photos in our computer and found all of both of my girls’ smiles while in other butterfly gardens. We are so excited! Have fun with your daughters next week! Thanks for coming over!!

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Welcome!

Welcome! My name is Deirdre and I am JDaniel4's Mom. After teaching in Virginia for twenty years, I was a stay at home mom learning and growing beside my son JDaniel the 4th for five years. I recently went back to teaching at a local school here in South Carolina. Read More…